Lyme research and commentary

About this page
This page contains articles in response to recently published Lyme research, described and commented on by biochemist Niek Haak. These articles should only be reproduced in fullwith due acknowledgment(source: STZ, www.tekenbeetziekten.nl).

About Tick-Born Diseases Foundation (Stichting Tekenbeetziekten)
Stichting Tekenbeetziekten aims to generate awareness and sufficient attention for tick bite diseases in healthcare, media, politics and society, to encourage as much knowledge as possible of tick bite diseases and to limit the possible effects of these diseases as much as possible.

The Foundation focuses on fundraising for scientific research into improved diagnostics and treatment methods for tick bite diseases.

Sherlock and the struggle for medical information
When the internet came into being in the early 90s, there were high expectations regarding the opportunities for information access for ordinary citizens, democratization and freedom of expression. Initially, this promise seemed to become reality, but instead, the internet slowly evolved into a bog of data where nonsense and commercially/politically manipulated (fake) news predominate and where you need a magnifying glass to find any reliable information.

Casting a shadow over dark field microscopy
Laane and Mysterud, two researchers at the University of Oslo, who believed they had developed a reliable method for detecting Borrelia using dark field microscopy. The study caused considerable commotion in Norway and the researchers were even suspended from the university. With some delay, the results of this ‘counter-study’ have finally been published.

Lyme and our immune system
The latest edition of the Dutch Journal of Medical Microbiology primarily focuses on autoimmunity, including an article by the Lyme Borreliosis Centre of the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam on the role of our immune system in Lyme disease.

Star WarsIn the Star Wars universe, the minuscule midi-chlorians play a major role: they are intelligent, symbiotic micro-organisms that are present in every cell and form the basis of life. When there are enough midi-chlorians in the cells, this enables the host to connect with The Force, a super-human power that plays a central role in the Star Wars stories.

More NVMM fairy tales
Recently, the Dutch Society of Medical Microbiology (NVMM) circulated a new publication, which once again tries to sweep the problems with Lyme serology under the carpet, this time for an international audience and presumably hoping that this kind of misinformation will end up even higher in the citation indices and will be reproduced in other countries.

An unfavourable trend
When you search the PubMed database (which records most of the biomedical research done in recent decades), the search results also display a chart with the number of publications per year. One glance at the chart is enough to realize that something strange is going on with Lyme research.

Chinese enlightenment
The Chinese CDC has explored a new PCR technique for Lyme diagnostics that requires a minimal amount of equipment , is very easy to use and even delivers the results within an hour.

Borrelia detection using microscopy
For many years, Lyme patients have described online how they observe Borrelia spirochetes and other Bb life forms in their blood using a simple microscope with dark field illumination. These are often patients who remain sick, despite ‘adequate’ antibiotic treatment and while serologic Lyme tests declare them ‘healthy’. Despite differences in location, technology and circumstances, the microscopy descriptions often demonstrate similar results.

Lyme – the Ebola of the developed worldYou might think: that is nonsense! Ebola is caused by a virus, not bacteria like Lyme. Ebola is highly contagious, and often leads to death quickly. Lyme occurs ‘here’ in temperate regions, while Ebola primarily happens ‘there’ in the tropics and is not our problem, unless it is momentarily broadcast on TV.